Wedding of River Song Alternate Ending
by betawho
Summary: Here's an alternate ending I wrote for "Wedding of River Song." It's based on the idea that Amy, Rory, and River really did think that the Doctor had died at Lake Silencio, that there never had been a Tessalecta duplicate, and the Doctor had come up with another way to fake his death.


_Here's an alternate ending I wrote for "Wedding of River Song." It's based on the idea that Amy, Rory, and River really did think that the Doctor had died at Lake Silencio, that there never had been a Tessalecta duplicate, and the Doctor had come up with another way to fake his death. _

(I just put this together quickly for fun, it's unedited so please forgive any mistakes.)

—

River and Amy were sitting in Amy's garden, silently drinking wine. They didn't look at each other. There was too much to say.

It was after Lake Silencio. The second time.

They'd both woken up from a dream, a nightmare. River had arrived hoping it was all wrong, hoping it had just been a nightmare.

But Amy had been waiting for her with a bottle of wine, and tear tracks on her cheeks.

He was really gone.

"I killed Kovarian," Amy suddenly admitted. She looked up at River. "In cold blood. What does that make me?"

River, with more blood on her hands than she'd ever like to admit to, said nothing. There was nothing to say.

"I need to talk to the Doctor, but I can't, can I?"

"You could talk to a younger him," River ventured, not very happily. "He'd understand."

"But it wouldn't be the same," Amy said. She looked up at her daughter. "How do you stand it? Seeing the younger him? Knowing what will happen?"

A tear glimmered down River's cheek, but her expression didn't change.

Suddenly a grating, whooping noise filled the garden, a wind whipped the fairy lights. They stared at each other in shock as the Tardis materialized.

The door opened and the Doctor stepped out, in bowtie and tweed. "Hello!" he said cheerfully.

River smiled, only Amy saw the hitch in her expression. "Hello, Sweetie." She ignored the drying tear track on her cheek as if it wasn't there, and pulled out her diary. She flipped it open. "Where are we this time?" she asked, as flirtatiously as if it was just another chance meeting.

Amy's heart ached. She'd never realized before how much that cheerful facade must hurt.

The Doctor looked at them both carefully. He sauntered over, hands in his pockets. "Utah," he said.

"Ah," River said, finding an entry in her diary. "And how's Canton?"

The Doctor reached over and gently shut her book. "Utah, the second time." He said softly.

River's eyes widened. Suddenly she jumped up and drew her gun, dragging Amy back from the table and behind her.

"Who are you?!" she demanded. She scanned the garden as if expecting to see Silence.

He grinned. "I'm me." He waved at the Tardis. "Check for yourself."

River stared at the Tardis, apparently listening to something Amy couldn't hear. "River?" she asked from behind her, her heart galloping at the image of the Doctor before her, hale and whole. But terrified it was some awful illusion.

River turned her head slightly, but didn't take her eyes off the Doctor. "That's really the Tardis." She lifted her gun higher, aiming at the imposter. "But we never found her at Lake Silencio, you could have gotten her there."

"I did," he agreed, nodding.

"You can't be him," River said, her voice cracking.

"I am," he said softly. "It's really me, River." He turned and looked at Amy. "You don't have to be scared. It's really me, Amy."

"It can't be," Amy said, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're dead."

"No. I died. There's a difference."

"Explain!" both Pond women said at once.

He grinned to hear it.

"I did die. I stopped my hearts. You scanned me, River, you know. And so did the Silence. I died at Lake Silencio."

"But we burnt you!" Amy protested.

"No," he rocked on his heels in smug satisfaction at his own cleverness. "You burnt a chemical substance that burns cold. I gave it to Canton. The chemical burned, I almost got frostbite."

"But the boat," Amy said. "We saw it sink."

He stepped back and patted the side of the Tardis. "The blue boat?" He grinned at their open mouthed expressions. He laughed. "I had two centuries to fix the chameleon circuit. Didn't you find it strange that I'd show up in Utah without the Tardis?

"Really, me, driving a station wagon?"

He danced over to them and hugged them tightly. Amy squeeked. Then hugged him like there was no tomorrow. She slugged him on the shoulder. "We thought you were dead!" she yelled.

He rubbed his shoulder. "That was the idea."

River still hadn't holstered her gun. "And the rest of it?" she asked.

He turned to look at her, a serious expression on his face.

"Did the rest of it happen?" she asked.

He gave her a very solemn, deep-eyed look. "Yes it did."

She studied him back. "Did you mean it?"

He smiled. "Yes, I do."

River's smile dawned like the sun. She holstered her gun. She waved a hand at Amy. "Amy's upset that she killed Madame Kovarian. She wants to know what you think about it."

The Doctor looked at Amy. "You killed Kovarian?"

Amy looked down, ashamed. "Yes."

"Good."

Her head jerked up. She almost took a step back at the look in his eye. She'd heard him called the Oncoming Storm before, but she'd never seen it. His eyes practically flashed lightning. He looked like an outraged god.

He took River's hand. "Saves me the trouble," he said lightly.

"But, but I..."

"Put her eyepatch back on and let the Silence finish what they'd started?"

"What? Yes, how did you know..."

He grinned. "Spoilers!" He reached over and caught Amy's head in one big hand, he pulled her forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Do you really think I'd condemn you Amelia?" he whispered, without ever letting go of River's hand. He laid his head on hers and looked her in the eye, almost crosseyed.

"But I..." she whispered back.

"You let her fate catch her, the fate she made for herself. She was hardly innocent in it, and she would not have stopped. I'm not the one to absolve you Amy. I've got too much blood on my own hands. But there's a reason a mother defending her young is the most savage fighter in the universe. Because without it, there's nothing in the universe worth fighting for." He kissed her on the forehead again.

He stood back. "Now," he said, practically hopping from foot to foot. He turned to River. She was giving him a very bright eyed look. "How would you like to go on a trip? I believe it's traditional."

"That would be acceptable," River said, holstering her gun and walking over to the Tardis, sashaying a little more than necessary. The Doctor followed her.

"Rory will be back any minute..." Amy said.

River turned in the open Tardis door, the Doctor right behind her, "Mummy?" she said in a low throaty tone.

"Yes?" Amy said, equally bright eyed, watching her daughter.

River hooked a finger possessively around the Doctor's bowtie. She pulled him inside. He voice came from the bowels of the ship. "Later."

The door shut, and the Tardis spiraled off into the night.

Amy stood in her back garden, looking up, and laughed.

—

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